Toadies

Videos

With numbing choruses and altruistic influences, youll find yourself somewhat bewildered, yet amazed by their new single called Summer of the Strange, as it hypnotizes and delights.

This strange sickness of Toadies has been around since their 1994 debut, Rubberneck. Few bands have generated such a cult following as Toadies did with their most notable track Possum Kingdom, as well as deeper cuts like Tyler and Mister Love. Unfortunately for the band, success came at a price, as their follow-up album, Feeler, was rejected by Interscope Records, which ultimately delayed their next release Hell Below/Stars Above until 2001. Needless to say, this series of events took its toll on the band, who ultimately called it quits in 2002. Frontman Vaden Todd Lewis went on to form The Burden Brothers, whose video for Shine was a highlight for HIP Video Promo in 2007. But somewhere along the way a funny thing happened; Lewis and co. just stopped caring what the music industry had to say and realized that there was a loyal army of Toadies followers anxious for their return. Enter Kirtland Records, always known as an artist-friendly label, and we were finally treated to new Toadies music with the album No Deliverance. On top of that the band finally had a proper release of Feeler, released in 2010. Now they are prepared to drop their newest offering, Play.Rock.Music. onto the scene and were confident that this is heaviest and most complexly rewarding Toadies record yet!

With the first single, Summer of the Strange, we see a sense of desperation arising as we hear the lyrics of the chorus that front man Lewis presents us with. The song translates into words that are at once both demanding and pleading as he screams, Give me back control! From the monster included in the beginning of the video (Leatherface?), it is clear that Lewis is trying to fight off some demons of his own, and must try to steer away from the heaviness and darkness that seems to have nearly consumed him. However, there is some lightness to the video, thanks to the band members uninhibited acting. The opening scene with Lewis and drummer Mark Reznicek is an epic beginning to the video and is only trumped by the next scene when bassist Doni Blair instigates a meltdown from guitarist Clark Vogeler, whose swan dive onto the dinner table is worthy of Olympic consideration.